Welcome to the Open Mentorship Handbook¶

A banner that says "Open Mentorship Handbook" in a large font. A rectangle shows a photo of four young Indian women talking to and having fun with each other at the Outreachy 1,000 interns celebration in India.

We, Outreachy organizers, proudly present version one (v1.0) of a reference book consolidating over 15 years of our collective experiences with open mentorships. Our goal is to empower the development and the evolution of derivative and/or sister open mentorship initiatives through the consolidation of knowledge on observed mentorship practices in open projects.

Structure¶

This handbook is structured in three main sections:

Introduction to Open Mentorships: We establish common ground in our discussions throughout the handbook by defining a series of pervasive concepts in the context of open mentorships.
Learning Paths: We introduce the community to the specific context and perspective of three main actors: mentees, mentors and organizers.
Case Studies: We illustrate concepts and insights presented in previous sections through real examples of open mentorship programs.

Where to start¶

For researchers

You want to understand what open mentorships are, what they entail and their manifestations to help us document the permeating culture of open projects.

Introduction to Open Mentorships
For future and current mentees

You want to contribute to open projects or create and maintain your own, but there's a significant gap between where you currently are and where you want to be.

Becoming a Mentee
For future and current mentors

You're an experienced contributor, and now you're either being asked to become a mentor or you wonder whether you should become one.

Becoming a Mentor
For future and current organizers

You have a systemic view of open projects and you want to promote change within this ecosystem at a bigger scale.

Becoming an Organizer

Make it better¶

This handbook is intended to be a living document. We invite researchers and practitioners alike to read it, review it, share it and improve it.

Improve existing handbook chapters and sections
Suggest new chapters and sections
Showcase your open mentorship program by submitting it as a case study

Learn more about contributing to the Open Mentorship Handbook!

How to cite this work¶

Anna e só [Giovanna Barbosa], Omotola Omotayo, Tilda Udufo, Karen Sandler. (2026). Open Mentorship Handbook v1.0.